Demountable acoustical ceiling



y 1962 J. E. STANLEY 3,032,833

DEMOUNTABLE ACOUSTICAL. CEILING Filed April 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 8, 1962' .1. E. STANLEY DEMOUNTABLE ACOUSTICAL CEILING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1957 May 8, 1962 J. E. STANLEY 3,032,833

DEMOUNTABLE ACOUSTICAL 4 CEILING Filed April 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 'ber of different features.

United States Patent 3 032 833 DEMOUNTABLE AC()USTICAL CEILING John E. Stanley, Flintridge, Calif., assignor to Duo-Flex Corporation, Hollywood, Calif., a corporation Filed Apr. 22, 1957, Ser. No. 654,414 5 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) ture is adjustable for leveling the ceiling. Still another problem is to meet the demand for such an acoustical ceiling in which all of the supporting frame structure is concealed, only the acoustical tile being visible. A further problemis to provide an acoustical ceiling that is demountable in the sense that individual tiles may be readily removed temporarily as needed for access to the space above the ceiling. A still further problem is to provide an acoustical ceiling that is sealed to the degree necessary to permit the space above the acoustical tiles to be used as a return air plenum in an air conditioning system.

Each of these problems may be readily solved separate and apart from the other problems. Difliculties arise, however, when several of the solutions must be combined in a single ceiling construction, and especially when the endeavor is to avoid complications in the structure. The present invention solves all of these problems by means I of a relatively simple construction.

The invention keeps material costs low by utilizing structural elements that may be produced economically by mass production methods. Further savings in material cost are achieved by using a supporting structure assembly that employs only a relatively few structural members for its purpose and in which the individual structural members 'are' relatively light in weight.

The problem of minimizing labor cost is met by a num- One of these features is the elimination of overhead runners, such as the commonly used channel runners. Under present building practices, these overhead runners must be installed by craftsmen of a different trade from the craftsmen that install the acoustical ceiling proper. The invention provides a support I grid for the ceiling tiles that may be directly suspended from overhead building structure by simple flexible wires or the like. Thus, the invention eliminates the need for overhead runners so that the whole ceiling including all of its supporting structures may be installed by the usual craftsmen.

Another feature, with respect to savings in installation labor, is elimination of nails, screws or other time-consuming fastening devices. "Fabrication of the supporting grid involves merely attaching parallel primary support members to the suspension wires, placing transverse spacer members in position to intersect and interconnect the primary support members, and then simply bending pliable tongues on the prefabricated spacer members for interlocking engagement with the primary support members.

Further savings in installation labor are achieved by cated hangers having adjustment nuts that may be manipulated to provide an exceedingly simple procedure for leveling the support grid. In addition, the lateral spacers 3,032,833 Patented May 8, 1962 in the support grid are prefabricated to precise dimensions and are adapted to interconnect the primary support members in a rigid manner to space the primary support members apart with accuracy. Thus, the assembled grid is accurately constructed in accord with the precise dimensions of the individual acoustical tiles.

In the preferred practice of the invention, the primary support members are of the cross-sectional configuration of an inverted letter T, each having opposite longitudinal bottom flanges to provide longitudinal surfaces for supporting the rows of tiles. The tiles have kerfs in their opposite edges. To install an individual tile, it is necessary merely to insert secondary support members into the kerfs of the tile and to place the secondary support members in positions resting on the longitudinal support surfaces of the primary support members. As will be explained, the secondary support members may either be positioned longitudinally of the primary support members or may be positioned transversally to span the spaces between the primary support members. The second support members that are positioned longitudinally of the primary support members may be simple flat splines and the alternately used secondary support members that span the spaces between the primary support members may be of the general character of a so-called T-spline. Preferably, such T-splines, when used, are of split construction, as will be explained, to facilitate demounting of the tiles.

To conceal the supporting grid structure, the acoustical tiles are placed with their lower faces below the level of the primary support members and are positioned close together edge to edge. Upper portions of the tiles are cut away to clear the bottom portions of the primary support members and marginal portions of the tiles extend under the primary support members for concealment thereof. Only one end of an acoustical tile extends under a primary support member, however, the other end being free to swing upward for removal, as will be explained.

The various features and advantages .of the invention may be understood by reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawmgs.

In the drawings, which are to be regarded as merely illustrative:

FIGURE 1 isa perspective view from above of an installed ceiling constructed in accord with the presently preferred practice of the invention; v

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged section taken as indicated by the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 to show the construction of a longitudinally split T-spline that is employed in the preferred practice of the invention; I

FIGURE 3 is a simplified cross-sectional view on a reduced scale showing how alternate tiles in a row may be provided with different halves of the split T-splines;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view indicating the manner in which the ends of two adjacent spacer members may be assembled to a primary support member; FIGURE 5 is a similar view showing the members completely assembled together;

FIGURE 6 is a section taken as indicated by the angular line 6-6 of FIGURE 1 showing how a marginal portion of a tile may extend under a primary support member with the other end of the installed tile free to swing upward for removal;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 6 showing one end of a tile swung upward in the procedure for removing the tile.

the suspension wires 22 in any suitable manner. present embodiment of the invention, the vertical web 'side elevation showing an alternate form of hanger; and

FIGURE 12 is an enlarged view similar to FIGURE 11 showing the longitudinal secondary support members in cross section.

As best shown in FIGURES land 10, the ceiling construction includes a rigid grid for supporting rows of tiles 20, the grid being suspended fromthe overhead building structure by flexible means in the form of wires 22. The rigid grid comprises spaced parallel horizontal primary support members 24 connected to the wires 22 and parallel spacer members 25 that interconnect the primary support members.

As bestshown in FIGURES 8 and 9, each of the primary support members 24 may be made of sheet metal bent back on itself to form a longitudinal hollow enlargement 26 along its upper edge and to form two opposite longitudinal flanges 28 and 30 along its bottom edge. The longitudinal enlargement 26, which may be of rectangular cross-sectional configuration, forms two downwardly presented shoulders 32 on opposite sides of the primary support member. The bottom flange 28 of the primary support member is of double thickness and the second flange 30 is folded or rolled at its edge to provide a double thickness bead 34. By virtue of this construction, a primary support member 24 has relatively great strength for its weight, since it has a relatively wide vertical web 35 reinforced by the longitudinal hollow enlargement 26 and since the two bottom flanges 28 and 30 stilfen the web against lateral flexure.

When necessary, the primary support members 24 may be interconnected end to end to extend across a relatively long room space and for this purpose connecting clips 36 made of sheet metal may be used as shown in FIG- URE 1. Each of the clips 36 comprises simply a strip of flexible sheet metal formed with lateral tongues at its ends, which tongues are inserted into slots of the two primary support members and are then bent back for positive engagement.

The primary support members 24 may be connected to In the 35 of each primary support member 24 has a number of spaced apertures 38 for engagement by hangers 40. As best shown in FIGURE 9, each of the hangers 40 may comprise an angular piece of sheet metal 42 and a rod member 44 bent to form a hook for engagement with one of the apertures 38. Preferably, the rod member 44 is formed with an off-set 45 to clear the enlargement 26 of the primary support member. The angular piece of sheet metal 42 has an aperture 46 for engagement by a suspension wire 22 and is formed with an apertured flange 48 to receive the rod member 44. The rod member 44 is threaded at its upper end to receive an adjustment nut 50 for engagement with the apertured flange 48 and this nut may be rotated to shorten or lengthen the hanger for the purpose of leveling the support grid.

As best shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, the spacer members 25 maytake the form of sheet metal angles each of which has a vertical web 52 and a top flange 54. Each of the spacer member 25 is provided at each of its opposite ends with a slot extending upward fromlits lower edge, this slot being dimensioned to permit the end of the spacer member to straddle a primary support member 24. In the present practice of the invention, each of these slots is formed by making a rectangular aperture 55 in the vertical web of the spacer member of a dimension to straddle the rectangular enlargement 26 of a primary support member 24 and by then cutting a narrow slot 56 centrally of the rectangular aperture with the slot extending to thebottom edge of the vertical web 52 and with the slot dimensioned in width to straddle the vertical web 35 of a primary support member. The narrow slot 56 together with the rectangular aperture 55 forms a pair of tongues 58. When these tongues 58 are bent away from the plane of the vertical web 52 of the spacer member as indicated in FIGURE 4, the tongues form an entrance to the rectangular aperture 55 for the enlargement 26 of a primary support member. When a spacer member 25 is positioned in thismanner with the enlarge ment 26 of a primary support member 24 in the rectangu lar aperture 55, the tongues 58 of FIGURE 4 may be bent back into the plane of the vertical web 52 as indicated to eflect positive engagement of the spacer member with the primary support member.

Each of the tiles 20 is supported from the described support grid [by a plurality of secondary support means and for this purpose each of the tiles is formed with kerfs 60 in its edges in a Well known manner. In the preferred practice of the invention, each of the secondary support means is of a type commonly known as a T-spline and is generally designated by the letter S in the drawings. Each split T-spline S has the configuration in cross section of an inverted letter T and is of a special split construction. Thus, each split T-spline S comprises two separate longitudinal sections or support elements 62 and 64.

As shown in cross section in FIGURE 2, the two split T-spline sections 62 and 64 are L-shaped incross section and are positioned back to back to provide a composite configuration that is characteristic of a T-spline. Section 62 has a vertical web 65 and has a bottom flange 66 to engage a kerf 60 of an adjacent tile 20. This bottom flange 66 is preferably corrugated, as shown, to fit snugly into the kerf. In the same manner, the second section 64 of the split T-spline has a vertical web 68 and a corrugated bottom flange 70 to engage the kerf 60 of an adjacent tile 20. The top edge of the split T-spline section 62 is reinforced by an overhanging flange 72 and the top edge of the section 64 is reinforced in a similar manner by an overhanging flange 74 that makes hook engagement with the overhanging flange 72. In the manner shown in FIGURE 1, the opposite ends of the split T- splines S rest on the bottom flanges of the primary sup port members 24 to support the tiles 20 in rows between t the primary support members.

. of the other split T-spline section '62 the two sections of the split T-spline are in positive engagement with each other at the normal installed position of the split T-spline but that the two sections may be separated simply by lifting the split T-spline section 64 upward to disengage the overhanging flange 74 from the overhanging flange 72. It is further apparent that if every other tile 20 in a row of tiles is supported by split T-spline sections 64, these tiles may be readily demounted from their installed positions by simple upward movement. Thus, as shown somewhat diagrammatically in FIGURE 3, it four tiles 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d are placed in sequence in a row and the tiles 20a and 20c are provided with split T-spline section 64, while the alternate tiles 20b and 20d are provided with the split T-spline sections 62, the tiles 20a and 200 may be disengaged from the other tiles by upward movement. After the tiles 20a and 200 are removed, the remaining alternate tiles 20b and 28a may be removed. In this manner, the described arrangement makes possible an acoustical ceiling that is completely demountable in the sense that any number of the acoustical tiles may be dismounted when desired for access to the space above the ceiling.

In the present embodiment of the invention, one end of each tile in a row is cut back on its upper side to clear the bottom of a primary support member'24 and to form a bottom marginal portion 75 which underlies and conceals the primary support member as best shown in FIG- URE 8. Obviously, this end of the tile cannot be lifted for the purpose of demounting the tile but, as shown in FIGURE 7, the other end of thetile terminates short of the next primary support member 24 and may be lifted as indicated in broken lines in FIGURE 7. Thus, a tile equipped with split T-spline sections 64 along its opposite edges-may be tilted upward inthe manner indicated in FIGURE 7 and then may be easily maneuvered out of the ceiling assembly. -When a tile is swung upward in this manner to fulcrum about the end that has the bottom marginal portion 75, the lower end of the two inclined split T-spline sections 64 rock against the corresponding primary support member 24 with the consequence that the split T-spline sections are slightly longitudinally displaced along the kerfsof the tile. In practice, this slight shifting of the split T-spline sections is not troublesome.

The preferred practice of the invention further includes a flat spline 76 positioned at the swinging end of each tile, as shown in FIGURE 8, to serve as a barrier to dust and to minimize air leakage through the ceiling. The flat spline 76 may be made of fibrous material and is of a length no greater than the corresponding dimension of the tile so that the flat spline may be lifted with the tile without interference by adjacent tile.

The described ceiling may be assembled on the job in a rapid manner without sacrificing accuracy in dimensions and alignment. The spacer members 25 drop readily into their assembled positions and it is a simple matter to bend the tongues of the spacer members back into the planes of the vertical webs 52 for positive engagement between the spacer members and the primary support members 24. The spacer members 25 are accurately prefabricated so that the assembled rigid grid is of the precise dimensions required for supporting the tiles 20 in accurately aligned rows.

Since the bottom flanges 66 and 70 of the split T-spline sections 62 and 64 are corrugated for snug fit into the kerfs 60 of the tiles, the split T-spline sections may be preassembled to the tiles. The fiat splines 76 may also be preassembled since they may be held in position at their opposite ends by the corresponding split T-spline sections. After the ceiling is completely installed, access to the space above the ceiling may be achieved by swinging up any of the tiles that are equipped with the split T-spline sections 64. The alternate tiles that are equipped with the split T-spline sections 62 may be removed by first removing the adjacent tiles that are equipped with the split T-spline sections 64.

FIGURE 11 shows a hanger 78 that may be substituted for the hanger 40. The hanger 78 comprises an angular piece of sheet metal 80 having an aperture 82 for engagement with a suspension wire 22 and having a bottom flange 84 apertured to receive the two legs of a U-shaped rod 85. The U-shaped rod 35 hooks through an aperture 38 of a primary support member 24 in the usual manner and is provided with a pair of nuts 86 in abutment with the bottom flange 84 for leveling adjustment of the support grid.

FIGURE 12 indicates how split T-splines S may be made shorter than the tiles 20 to serve merely as means to interconnect the tiles and to seal the junctures of the tiles without actually supporting the tiles. The tiles are supported solely by secondary support elements in the form of relatively heavy flat splines 88 which may be made of metal or any suitable material. The flat splines 88 engage the kerfs 60 at the ends of the tiles and rest on the bottom flanges 28 and 30 of the primary support members 24. Thus, each of the fiat splines 88 runs longitudinally of a primary support member 24 with one longitudinal half of the flat spline resting on the primary support member and the other longitudinal half engaging 6 the kerf 60 of the adjacent tile. Each of the flat splines 88 is of the samelength as the width of the tile with which it is engaged so as not to interfere with removal of the individual tile from the ceiling when desired.

My description in specific detail of the preferred practice'of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from my disclosure within the spirit'and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An assembly of elongated members to form a grid for suspension from overhead building structure to support rows of ceiling tiles, comprising: a plurality of primary support members directly suspended from the overhead building structure, each of saidprimary support members having lower longitudinal flangeson its opposite sides to support the rows of tiles and having a downwardly facing longitudinal shoulder above the level of said lower portions; a plurality of spacer members spaced above the level of the lower edges of said primary support members and interconnectingsuccessive pairs of said primary support members, each of said spacer members having a slot extending upward from its bottom edge near each of its ends and straddling an upper portion of one of said primary support members including said shoulder thereof, said slots being of the width of the upper portions of said primary support members to permit the spacer members to be moved laterally into straddling engagement with the primary support members, each of said spacer members having pliable tongue means adjacent each of said slots extending across the slot in the path of withdrawal of said shoulder and thereby positively interlocking the spacer member with the straddled primary support member to form a rigid grid structure; and secondary support members resting on said flanges of the primary support members and spanning the spaces between the primary support members, said secondary members having flanges adapted to engage the tiles.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1, in which each of said primary support members is enlarged in cross section at an upper longitudinal portion thereof to form two downwardly facing longitudinal shoulders; and in which each of said spacer members has two pliable tongues on opposite sides of each of its slots engaging said two shoulders respectively.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2, in which each of said primary support members is made of sheet metal with the sheet metal bent back on itself to form an upper longitudinal hollow enlargement providing said two shoulders.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 1, in which each of said primary support members is enlarged in cross section at an upper portion thereof to form two downwardly facing longitudinal shoulders; and in which each of said spacer members is made of pliable sheet material and has an aperture near each of its ends of the same cross-sectional configuration as said enlargements; and in which each of said spacer members has a slit extending from each of said apertures to the bottom edge of the spacer member, said apertures and slits straddling said primary support members in interlocking engagement with said shoulders.

5. In an acoustical ceiling construction suspended from overhead building structure, the combination of: a plurality of acoustical tile arranged in rows with their bottom faces forming a ceiling surface, said tiles having kerfs in their edges; a series of spaced parallel horizontal primary support members extending along the junctures of said rows of tiles, each of said primary support members having longitudinal flanges on its opposite sides at its lower edges supporting said tiles by said kerfs, the bottom faces of said tiles being below the level of said primary support members, said tiles being positioned close together edge to edge to conceal said primary support members, each of said primary support members having a downwardly facing longitudinal shoulder on at least one of its sides; means directly connected to said primary'suppor't members and suspending said primary support members from the overhead building structure; and spacer members interconnecting the successive pairs of said primary support members to form therewith a support grid for said tiles, said spacer members being dimensioned in length in accord with the dimensions of said tiles to place said primary supports at said junctures of the rows of tiles for supporting the tiles, each of said spacer members having near each of its ends a slot extending upward from its lower edge to straddle a primary support member, said slot being formed with at least one tongue in engagement with said shoulder of the primary support member to lock the spacer member to the straddled primarymember.

McCormick Dec. 15, 1896 Rader Dec. 2, 1902 8 Walper Apr. 16, Collins Dec. 18, Olsen Sept. 10, Neumeister -Q Dec. 6,

Olsen Feb. 28, Jacobson Feb. 2, Bibb June 14, Sprankle Dec. 4, Urbain Feb. 11, Sorenson July 14, McCorkell 1 Nov. 3, Ericson Jan. 12,

FOREIGN PATENTS England Apr. 22, France Oct. 23, Australia Nov. 8, 

